New commissioner says Walker County doesn’t have enough money to pay bills; takes out loan

Shannon Whitfield

Update: Walker County Clerk of Court Carter Brown said Saturday that the Internet service provided to his office comes through a state government program, at no direct cost to the county. Other departments are also in the courthouse. Brown said he doesn’t know how much they pay for Internet.

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New Walker County, Ga., Commissioner Shannon Whitfield plans to borrow $8 million this year to pay down debt, and you better get used to it.

“It’s not a good position to be in,” said Whitfield, who took office Jan. 1. “Even with cutting and working through this, without doing some crazy things, we’ll probably continue to do these [tax anticipation notes] over the next four years. It’s what I’m projecting, a week and a half into the job.

“But hopefully, we’ll be able to take out less and less and less [of a loan] over the years. We’ve got to get out of the short-term financing business.”